John Peter Oleson

Last updated
John Peter Oleson
Born1946
Hackensack, New Jersey, United States
NationalityCanadian
Alma mater Harvard University
Scientific career
Fields Classical archaeologist,
historian of technology
Institutions University of Victoria

John Peter Oleson (born 1946) is a Canadian classical archaeologist and historian of ancient technology. His main interests are the Roman Near East, maritime archaeology (particularly Roman harbours), and ancient technology, especially hydraulic technology, water-lifting devices, and Roman concrete construction. [1]

Contents

Life

Born in 1946 in Hackensack, New Jersey, United States, Oleson was schooled at the Loomis School in Windsor, Connecticut (1960–64). He received his BA in Classics at Harvard University in 1967, where he studied with Herbert Bloch. Oleson received his MA (1971) and PhD (1973) in Classical Archaeology at Harvard University, working in particular with George M.A. Hanfmann and David Mitten.

From 1973–1976 Oleson taught in the Classics Department of Florida State University, Tallahassee. Since 1976 he has been a member of the Greek and Roman Studies Department of the University of Victoria, Canada, where he was appointed Distinguished Professor in 2003. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1994. From 1997 to 2001 he was a member of Council of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. From 1999–2002 he was a Trustee of the Board of the Royal British Columbia Museum. He was appointed a Killam Research Fellow for 2000–2002. Since 1997 he has been a member of the Board of the American Center of Research in Amman.

Between 1970 and 1975 Oleson worked with Anna McCann Taggart on the archaeological excavation of the Etruscan and Roman harbours at Cosa, Pyrgi, and Populonia, and from 1980 to 1985 he was a co-director of the Caesarea Ancient Harbour Excavation Project. In 1997, along with McCann Taggart, he was a project archaeologist at the Skerki Bank Deep Water Shipwreck Survey, directed by Robert Ballard. From 1986 until 2005 he directed survey and excavation at the site of Hawara (modern Humayma), a Nabataean, Roman, and Early Islamic centre in the Hisma Desert of southern Jordan. [2] Since 2001 he has co-directed the Roman Maritime Concrete Study with Christopher J. Brandon and Robert L. Hohlfelder. [3]

As of 2010 Oleson has published ten books and more than 95 articles concerning ancient technology, marine archaeology, the Nabataeans, and the Roman Near East. He has presented more than 150 refereed public papers and invited lectures since 1976. Oleson has also been active as an editor: His Handbook of Engineering and Technology in the Classical World was awarded the Eugene Ferguson book award by the Society for the History of Technology in 2009. [4] In 2010 the Royal Society of Canada awarded Oleson the Pierre Chauveau Medal for "distinguished contribution to knowledge in the humanities." [5]

Works

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ancient Roman architecture</span> Ancient architectural style

Ancient Roman architecture adopted the external language of classical Greek architecture for the purposes of the ancient Romans, but was different from Greek buildings, becoming a new architectural style. The two styles are often considered one body of classical architecture. Roman architecture flourished in the Roman Republic and to even a greater extent under the Empire, when the great majority of surviving buildings were constructed. It used new materials, particularly Roman concrete, and newer technologies such as the arch and the dome to make buildings that were typically strong and well-engineered. Large numbers remain in some form across the former empire, sometimes complete and still in use to this day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caesarea Maritima</span> Ancient Levantine city and depopulated village site

Caesarea, also known as Caesarea Maritima or Caesarea Palestinae, in medieval and early modern times known as Qisarya, and in modern Israel as Keisaria, was an ancient and medieval city in the Sharon plain on the coast of the Eastern Mediterranean, and later a small fishing village. For centuries it was a major intellectual hub of the Mediterranean and cultural capital of Palestine. Today the site is included in an Israeli national park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nabataeans</span> Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the Southern Levant

The Nabataeans or Nabateans were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern Levant. Their settlements—most prominently the assumed capital city of Raqmu —gave the name Nabatene to the Arabian borderland that stretched from the Euphrates to the Red Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tel Dor</span> Archeological site in Israel

Tel Dor or Tell el-Burj, also Khirbet el-Burj in Arabic, is an archaeological site located on the Israeli coastal plain of the Mediterranean Sea next to modern moshav Dor, about 30 kilometers (19 mi) south of Haifa, and 2.5 kilometers (1.6 mi) west of Hadera. Lying on a small headland at the north side of a protected inlet, it is identified with D-jr of Egyptian sources, Biblical Dor, and with Dor/Dora of Greek and Roman sources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kechries</span> Village in Corinthia, Greece

Kechries is a village in the municipality of Corinth in Corinthia in Greece, part of the community of Xylokeriza. Population 238 (2011). It takes its name from the ancient port town Kenchreai or Cenchreae, which was situated at the same location.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dushara</span>

Dushara, also transliterated as Dusares, is a pre-Islamic Arabian god worshipped by the Nabataeans at Petra and Madain Saleh. Safaitic inscriptions imply he was the son of Al-Lat, and that he assembled in the heavens with other gods. He is called "Dushara from Petra" in one inscription. Dushara was expected to bring justice if called by the correct ritual.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caesarea, Israel</span> Town in north-central Israel

Caesarea, also transliterated as Keisarya or Qaysaria, is an affluent town in north-central Israel, which was named after the ancient city of Caesarea Maritima situated 1–2 kilometres (0.62–1.24 mi) to the south.

David Gibbins is an underwater archaeologist and a bestselling novelist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maresha</span> Archaeological site in southern Israel

Tel Maresha is the tell of the biblical Iron Age city of Maresha, and of the subsequent, post-586 BCE Idumean city known by its Hellenised name Marisa, Arabised as Marissa (ماريسا). The tell is situated in Israel's Shephelah region, i.e. in the foothills of the Judaean Mountains, about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) southeast of Beit Gubrin. It was first excavated in 1898-1900 by the British archaeologists Bliss and Macalister on behalf of the Palestine Exploration Fund and again after 1989 by Israeli archaeologist Amos Kloner on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority. Most of the artifacts of the British excavation are to be found today in the Istanbul Archaeology Museums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nessana</span>

Nessana, Modern Hebrew name Nizzana, also spelled Nitzana, is an ancient Nabataean city located in the southwest Negev desert in Israel close to the Egyptian border. It started by being a caravan station on the ancient Incense Road, protecting a western branch of the road which allowed access to Egypt to the west via the Sinai, and to Beersheba, Hebron and Jerusalem to the northeast. It was first used by Nabataean merchants, and later also by Christian pilgrims.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric H. Cline</span> American historian

Eric H. Cline is an author, historian, archaeologist, and professor of ancient history and archaeology at The George Washington University (GWU) in Washington, D.C., where he is Professor of Classics and Anthropology and the former Chair of the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, as well as Director of the GWU Capitol Archaeological Institute. He is also the advisor for the undergraduate archaeology majors, for which he was awarded the GWU Award for "Excellence in Undergraduate Departmental Advising" (2006). Cline served as co-editor of the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research along with Christopher Rollston from 2014-2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ancient Greek technology</span> Things like tools and weapons used in Ancient Greece

Ancient Greek technology developed during the 5th century BC, continuing up to and including the Roman period, and beyond. Inventions that are credited to the ancient Greeks include the gear, screw, rotary mills, bronze casting techniques, water clock, water organ, the torsion catapult, the use of steam to operate some experimental machines and toys, and a chart to find prime numbers. Many of these inventions occurred late in the Greek period, often inspired by the need to improve weapons and tactics in war. However, peaceful uses are shown by their early development of the watermill, a device which pointed to further exploitation on a large scale under the Romans. They developed surveying and mathematics to an advanced state, and many of their technical advances were published by philosophers, like Archimedes and Heron.

Andrew Ian Wilson is a British classical archaeologist and Head of School of Archaeology at the University of Oxford. He was director of the Oxford Institute of Archaeology from 2009 to 2011. Wilson's main research interests are the economy of the Roman world, Greek and Roman water supply, and ancient technology.

Georges Raepsaet is a Belgian classical archaeologist and historian of antiquity. His main research interests are the archaeology of ancient technologies, especially traction systems in Greco-Roman land transport and farming, the production and trade of ancient ceramics and the wider socioeconomic implications of these technologies, as well as Roman Gaul. His methods include the use of experimentation.

Örjan Wikander is a Swedish classical archaeologist and ancient historian. His main interests are ancient water technology, ancient roof terracottas, Roman social history, Etruscan archaeology and epigraphy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nabataean architecture</span> Ancient Near East construction style

Nabatean architecture refers to the building traditions of the Nabateans, an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern Levant. Their settlements—most prominently the assumed capital city of Raqmu —gave the name Nabatene to the Arabian borderland that stretched from the Euphrates to the Red Sea. Their architectural style is notable for its temples and tombs, most famously the ones found in Petra. The style appears to be a mix of Mesopotamian, Phoenician and Hellenistic influences modified to suit the Arab architectural taste. Petra, the capital of the kingdom of Nabatea, is as famous now as it was in the antiquity for its remarkable rock-cut tombs and temples. Most architectural Nabatean remains, dating from the 1st century BC to the 2nd century AD, are highly visible and well-preserved, with over 500 monuments in Petra, in modern-day Jordan, and 110 well preserved tombs set in the desert landscape of Hegra, now in modern-day Saudi Arabia. Much of the surviving architecture was carved out of rock cliffs, hence the columns do not actually support anything but are used for purely ornamental purposes. In addition to the most famous sites in Petra, there are also Nabatean complexes at Obodas (Avdat) and residential complexes at Mampsis (Kurnub) and a religious site of et-Tannur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Marguerite McCann</span> American art historian and archaeologist

Anna Marguerite McCann was an American art historian and archaeologist. She is known for being an early influencer—and the first American woman—in the field of underwater archaeology, beginning in the 1960s. McCann authored works pertaining to Roman art and Classical archaeology, and taught both art history and archaeology at various universities in the United States. McCann was an active member of the Archaeological Institute of America, and received its Gold Medal Award in 1998. She also published under the name Anna McCann Taggart.

Humayma also spelled Humeima and Humaima, is the modern name of ancient Hawara. Hawara was a trading post in southern Jordan that was founded by the Nabataean king Aretas III in the early first century BC. It is located 45 km to the south of the Nabataean capital Petra and 55 km to the north of the Red Sea port town of Aqaba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qasr Usaykhim</span> Nabatean fortress located in the East of Jordan

Qasr Usaykhim or Qasr Aseikhin, is probably a Roman fortlet on the extreme eastern edge of the Limes Arabiae et Palaestinae. The solitary outpost would thus possess one of the most spectacular sites of all Roman forts in Jordan. The ruins of the structure are located on the crest of a volcano in the Syrian Desert, Zarqa Governorate and about 18 km northeast of the town of Azraq, overlooking the wadi and allowing vegetation to grow.

References